Muon/Muonium in an Isotopically Pure 13C Diamond

A preliminary study of the diamagnetic (μ_d) and the paramagnetic (Mu _T ) states in a synthetic ¹³C diamond has been performed using the Transverse Field Muon Spin Rotation method. This system could be used to verify the quantum diffusion behaviour observed before, however, with a more reliable extraction of the hopping rate. The results were obtained in an applied magnetic field of 7.5 mT and at sample temperatures of 10 K, 100 K and 200 K. The prompt fraction, f, of the μ_d state remains constant at 22(5)% in the range 10–200 K; that of the Mu _T state increases from 53(10)% at 10 K to 78(10)% at 200 K. The fractions of the two states add to 100% at 200 K, suggesting non-population of the bond-centred state, Mu_BC, which is often observed in other diamond samples. The μ_d state has a spin relaxation rate of 0.20(5) μs⁻¹, in contrast to the zero value obtained in type II diamond samples. This indicates appreciable interaction of the μ_d state with the ¹³C atoms. The Mu _T state has a large spin relaxation rate ranging from 3.0(5) μs⁻¹ at 10 K to 7.0(5) μs⁻¹ at 200 K, consistent with values obtained in diamond samples with defects. This work is part of ongoing studies of muon/muonium-defect interactions in diamonds. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Muon behaviour in diamond grown by chemical vapour deposition

Transverse‐field μSR spectroscopy was used to study the behaviour of positive muons implanted in polycrystalline chemical‐vapour‐deposited (CVD) diamond. Measurements were made at sample temperatures of 10 K, 100 K, and 300 K at a magnetic field of 7.5 mT to study the behaviour of the “normal” (isotropic) muonium state (Mu_T) and the diamagnetic states (μ^d), and at 10 K and 300 K at the so‐called “magic field” of 407.25 mT to study the anomalous (bond‐centred) muonium state (Mu_BC) and μ^d. The absolute fractions of the muonium states in the CVD diamond are observed to be close to those in high‐quality natural type‐IIa single crystal diamond. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Interaction of Muons with H2/H3-Centres in Diamond

We report on transverse field muon spin rotation measurements on a nitrogen-rich type Ia diamond, both before and after the conversion of some of the aggregated nitrogen centres to nitrogen-vacancy complexes known as H2/H3-centres. The prompt fractions f and the spin relaxation rates λ were determined for the diamagnetic (μ_d) and the paramagnetic (Mu_T) states in the temperature range 10–300 K. The production of the nitrogen-vacancy complexes had little effect on the parameters of the Mu_T state for which f and λ remained unchanged at approximately 30% and 4 μs⁻¹, respectively. For the μ_d state, on the other hand, the formation of the H2/H3-centres resulted in an increase of the prompt fraction from 10(2)% to 20(3)%, and (for the first time) the spin relaxation rate showed a non-zero value of 0.020(3) μs⁻¹. These results show evidence of strong μ_d interactions with the nitrogen-vacancy complexes in diamond, and suggest a more complex structure for this state than a bare μ⁺. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Absolute sign of the Mu* hyperfine parameters in diamond

Standard μSR experiments in diamond have shown that the relative sign of the hyperfine parameters of the anisotropic Mu^* state is negative (A _‖/A _⊥<0). We report an experimental determination of theabsolute sign of the Mu^* hyperfine parameters by studying the transferred muon polarization during the thermally-activated transition from the isotropic Mu state to Mu^*. The results demonstrate that the isotropic part of the Mu^* hyperfine interaction is negative. In a nitrogen-poor diamond, both the Mu disappearance rate and the enhancement of the Mu^* signals are well-described by a single Arrhenius law.     

Final states in Si and GaAs via RF μSR spectroscopy

The ionization of muonium centers in Si and GaAs have been studied using radio frequency (RF) resonant techniques. In Si all three muonic centers are detectable by RF. No evidence was found for delayed Mu and Mu^* states at any temperature. However, our results on the diamagnetic final state (μ _f ⁺ ) show that it is composed of prompt fractions (as seen by conventional μSR) and delayed fractions arising from the ionization of Mu^* and Mu. We observe a full μ _f ⁺ fraction at 317 K when the Mu relaxation rate is above 10 μs⁻¹. GaAs differs from the situation in Si in that we observed only a partial conversion of Mu^* and Mu to a μ⁺ final state up to 310 K in spite of the fact that the transverse field relaxation rates become very high at 150 and 250 K respectively.     

Muonium centers in heavily n‐doped Si under illumination: Evidence for Mu–hole interaction

A small fraction of implanted muons exists as a paramagnetic state (presumably Mu_BC ⁰, muonium at the Si—Si bond center) in heavily Sb‐doped Si (n-type, [Sb]\ \simeq 10¹⁸\ cm^–3). The paramagnetic state is susceptible to illumination both at 10–20 K and 290 K, providing evidence that holes (minority carriers) play an important role in determining the dynamical properties of muonium centers, where change may occur via a process Mu_BC ⁰+ h⁺\to Mu_BC ⁺ followed by charge exchange reaction (or transition Mu⁺ _BC+ e⁻→ Mu⁰ _T). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mu centers in crystalline Ge under illumination

A slow conversion to a diamagnetic state has been observed for muonium centers at the tetrahedral interstitial site (Mu⁰ _T) in dark Ge at low temperatures. While the conversion process is affected by illumination, no effect of illumination upon the initial (Mu⁰ _T) centers themselves was observed at 10 K. This is in marked contrast with the case of (Mu⁰ _T) centers in Si where strong interaction with photo‐induced carriers is observed, suggesting that the electronic level associated with (Mu⁰ _T) state in Ge is not located in the energy gap. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Muonium states in silicon carbide

Implanted muons in samples of silicon carbide have been observed to form paramagnetic muonium centers (μ ⁺ e⁻). Muonium precession signals in low applied magnetic fields have been observed at 22 K in a granular sample of cubic β-SiC, however it was not possible to determine the hyperfine frequency. In a single crystal sample of hexagonal 6H-SiC, three apparently isotropic muonium states were observed at 20 K and two at 300 K, all with hyperfine frequencies intermediate between those of the isotropic muonium centers in diamond and silicon. No evidence was seen of an anisotropic muonium state analogous to the Mu^* state in diamond and silicon.     

Diffusion, trapping, and relaxation of Mu+ and Mu- in heavily‐doped GaAs

The diamagnetic muonium states in heavily doped GaAs are investigated with a combination of transverse‐field and longitudinal‐field μSR techniques. In metallic n‐type GaAs, formation of Mu^- occurs because of the high Fermi energy. This analog of the hydride ion (H^-) is located in a T_Ga interstice where it is essentially immobile up to about 500 K. At higher temperatures, Mu_T acts as an electron–hole recombination center. In p‐type GaAs, Mu⁺ traps at two different sites, one at low temperatures and a second at higher temperatures after detrapping from the first. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electronic properties of HfXY intermetallic compounds (X = Si, Ge; Y = S, Se, Te)

Muonium, with a positive muon as the nucleus is considered a light isotope of hydrogen displaying a close chemical analogy to this atom. It offers a unique opportunity to study the behaviour of hydrogen in diamond at very low concentrations. The mass difference, however, implies that dynamical effects will be distinct. The bond centred muonium (Mu _BC ) state in diamond is easily observed and there is a very good correlation between theoretical and experimental hyperfine parameters (Schneider et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 71(4):557–560, 1993). Curiously, despite its predicted stability, the bond centred hydrogen state has not yet been observed in diamond. Following the discovery of hydrogen dopant states in certain wide band gap metal oxides, and the possibility of hydrogen related molecular dopants in diamond, the study of hydrogen in diamond is important. Although it is evident from its hyperfine parameters that Mu _BC is not a shallow donor, the question still arises as to where the Mu _BC state in diamond might lie in the band gap. Accordingly, measurements of the high temperature stability of Mu _BC have been performed in a search for its possible ionization. The results are consistent with such an ionization, as the disappearance of Mu _BC polarisation (setting in near 1000 K) is correlated with the slight increase in the population of the diamagnetic μ⁺ species.     

RF-μSR study of muonium charge states and dynamics in Si

The radio frequencySR technique developed at TRIUMF was used to measure the temperature dependence of the diamagnetic muon, Mu, and Mu^* amplitudes in silicon between 10 K and 500 K. Six samples doped with phosphorus (n-type) and boron (p-type) in the concentration range 10¹¹ to 10¹⁵ cm^–3 were studied. In pure Si a very good fit over the whole temperature range is obtained from a model that includes the ionization of Mu^* and Mu to a bond centered ⁺ followed at high temperature by charge exchange involving Mu.     

Substitutional doping of Cu in diamond: Mott physics with p orbitals

Discovery of superconductivity in the impurity band formed by heavy doping of boron into diamond (C:B) as well as doping of boron into silicon (Si:B) has provided a rout for the possibility of new families of superconducting materials. Motivated by the special role played by copper atoms in high temperature superconducting materials where essentially Cu d orbitals are responsible for a variety of correlation induced phases, in this paper we investigate the effect of substitutional doping of Cu into diamond. Our extensive first principle calculations based on density functional theory which are averaged over various geometries indicate the formation of a mid-gap band, which mainly arises from the t _{2 g} and 4p states of Cu. For impurity concentrations of more than ~1%, the effect of 2p bands of neighboring carbon atoms can be ignored. Based on our detailed analysis, we suggest a two band model for the mid-gap states consisting of a quarter-filled hole like t _{2 g} band, and a half-filled band of 4p states. Increasing the concentration of the Cu impurity beyond ~5%, completely closes the spectral gap of the host diamond.     

Fabrication of polaritonic structures in LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> and LiTaO<Subscript>3</Subscript> using femtosecond laser machining

Fabrication of patterned materials in ferroelectric LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ crystals using femtosecond laser micromachining is presented and discussed. Damage feature sizes in the 10–100 μm range were achieved using 800-nm, 50-fs (FWHM) ultra-fast laser pulses with energies ranging from 10 μJ up to 350 μJ. Fabrication of polaritonic devices such as waveguides, resonators, focusing reflectors, diffractive and dispersive elements, photonic band gap materials, and other microstructures is demonstrated. PACS 77.84.Dy; 42.62.Cf; 71.36.+c     

Properties of Hg implanted Hg1? x Cd x Te infrared detectors

Experimental performance parameters of Hg implanted Hg_1−x Cd _x Te photovoltaic detectors are analyzed. At 77K, for 8–14 μm band, a comparison is made between performances and theoretical ultimate diffusion limits in low frequency direct detection. Experimental features are well-explained by a model based on the Auger band-to-band process for carrier recombination. Peak detectivities exceeding 10¹¹ cm Hz^1/2W⁻¹, external quantum efficiencies as high as 90%, and zero-bias resistance-area products better than 1 Ω·cm² have been achieved in devices with 12 μm cutoff wavelengths. In the 3–5 μm band performances are far from the diffusion limit. Notwithstanding, at 77K zero-bias resistance-area products are better than 10⁴Ω·cm² and detectivities of the order of 10¹² cm Hz^1/2W⁻¹ were observed at 5 μm. Predominant generation-recombination contribution are present at room temperature in 1–1.3 μm photodiodes whose detectivities, primarily limited by the Johnson noise, at 1.3 μm are higher than 10¹¹ cm Hz^1/2W⁻¹ at 300 K. The high frequency response of the photodiodes is also discussed. Response times as low as 0.5 ns are reached despite some limitations arising from the implanted layer sheet resistance. Work supported by CNR-CISE contract No. 73.01435.     

Electrical and optical properties of CuIn5S8 single crystals

Summary Several transport and optical properties have been studied onn-type CuIn₅S₈ single crystals. The energy gap at 0 K was determined from the electrical measurements to be 1.4 eV. An anisotropy of the magnetoresistance effect was found and it was suggested that the minima of the conduction band were located at points along the [100] directions ink-space. An optical-absorption band was found in an infrared region of (1÷1.6) μm and was attributed to the transitions from the lowest conduction band situated along the [100] directions to an upper conduction band. Paper presented at the ?V International Conference on Ternary and Multinary Compounds?, held in Cagliari, September 14–16, 1982.     

New short-wavelength laser emissions from partially deuterated methanol isotopes

The partially deuterated isotopes of methanol, CH₂DOH and CHD₂OH, have been reinvestigated as sources of far-infrared (FIR) laser emissions using an optically pumped molecular laser (OPML) system recently designed for wavelengths below 150 μm. With this system, 10 new FIR laser emissions from these isotopes ranging from 32.8 to 174.6 μm have been discovered. This includes the shortest known OPML emission from CHD₂OH, at 32.8 μm. These lines are reported with their operating pressure, polarizations relative to the CO₂ pump laser and wavelengths, measured to ±0.5 μm. In addition, polarizations for three previously observed FIR laser lines from CHD₂OH were measured for the first time. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dr. K.M. Evenson, a pioneer in the field for his role in the development of optically pumped molecular lasers and their use in laser frequency measurements and the laser magnetic resonance technique. His scientific expertise, guidance, mentoring and friendship will be greatly missed. Received: 27 March 2002 / Published online: 8 May 2002     

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy of germane plasma induced by IR CO2 pulsed laser

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in germane (GeH₄), initially at room temperature and pressures ranging from 2 to 10 kPa, was studied using a high-power transverse excitation atmospheric (TEA) CO₂ laser (λ=10.653 μm, τ _FWHM=64 ns and power densities ranging from 0.28 to 5.52 GW cm⁻²). The strong emission spectrum of the generated plasma is mainly due to electronic relaxation of excited Ge, H and ionic fragments Ge⁺, Ge²⁺ and Ge³⁺. The weak emission is due to molecular bands of H₂. Excitation temperatures of 8100±300 K and 23,500±2500 K were estimated by Ge atomic and Ge⁺ singly ionized lines, respectively. Electron number densities of the order of (0.7–6.2)×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ were deduced from the Stark broadening of several atomic Ge lines. The characteristics of the spectral emission intensities from different species have been investigated as functions of the germane pressure and laser irradiance. Optical breakdown threshold intensities in germane at 10.653 μm have been determined. The mechanism of initiation of the laser-induced plasma in germane has been analyzed.     

The influence of hydrogen plasma pre-treatment on the structure of BDND electrode surface applied for phenol detection

The surface properties of boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond films treated with H₂ plasma was investigated in regard to their electrochemical response for phenol oxidation. The surface of these films is relatively flat formed by crystallites with sizes of about 40 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses showed that electrode surface has a high amount of C–H bonds. This behavior is in agreement with Mott-Schottky plot measurements concerning the flat band potential that presented a value as expected for hydrogenated diamond surface. This electrode presented the phenol detection limit of 0.08 mg L⁻¹ for low phenol concentrations from 40 to 250 μmol L⁻¹.     

Variations in the electrical resistivity of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films and induced interconversions of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic inclusions in their bulk

A significant (∼1.8%) positive unit between the parameters of the crystal lattice is the reason of tetragonal distortion (a _⊥/a _‖ ≈ 1.04) and reduction in the volume of the unit cell of La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ films (15 nm) quasicoherently grown on the (001) surface of a LaAlO₃ substrate. The films consist of single-crystal blocks with the lateral size of 30–50 nm. The atomically smooth LaAlO₃-La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ interphase boundary has no misfit dislocations. At T = 4.2 K, the transformation of nonferromagnetic phase inclusions into ferromagnetic ones in a constant magnetic field H is accompanied by a stable reduction in the electrical resistivity ρ of manganite films with time, so that the curve ρ(t) is well approximated by the relationship ρ(t) ∼ ρ₁(t − t ₀)^1/2, (where t ₀ is the time for establishment of the specified value (μ₀ H = 5 T) of the magnetic field and ρ₁ is a coefficient independent of H). The magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to the elastic deformation of films by the substrate and stratification of electronic phases are the reasons of the distinct hysteresis in the dependences ρ(μ₀ H, T < 100 K) obtained on μ₀ H scanning in the sequence 5 T → 0 → −5 T → 0 → 5 T. At T = 50 K and μ₀ H = 0.4 T, the magnetoresistance MR = 100% [ρ(μ₀ H) − ρ(μ₀ H = 0)]/ρ(μ₀ H = 0) of LCMO films attains 150%.     

Infrared transmissivity of heavily doped contact layers on extrinsic silicon IR-detectors

The infrared transmissivity of heavily dopedp-type contact layers on silicon was studied in the 3–5 μm and 8–14 μm wavelength range in order to optimise the layer thickness and doping concentration for antireflection coating. The transmissivity of surface layers and buried layers was computed taking into account the free carrier optical dispersion by the Drude theory and corrections due to intervalence band transitions as well as multiple reflections and interferences in the layer. The computations are in quantitative agreement with measurements on contact layers formed by multiple boron implantation. It was found that the free carrier absorption loss completely cancels the gain due to the antireflection effect for a surface layer. Transmissivities of around 73% may be obtained by a buried heavily doped layer.